Limiting Matter List for Billing

rated by 0 users

This post has
1
Reply |
0
Followers

My firm operates by matters. Some matters go on for months or years; others we wrap up in a few weeks. We'd like to somehow "close off" a matter so that not every matter we've ever handled shows up on the matter list when, for example, we use a time entry & go to enter the matter field. Is it simply a question of unmarking the matter as billable? Will that take it off the list?

Denise, Billing Matters has an archive feature. My clients have closed Matter procedures that in general goes something like this.

Status field is a drop down list with choices for Open, Closed, Pending etc.

There are two date fields for Open Dt and Closed Dt.

Often we create fields to indicate a physical location for the hard file.

If a review process is needed then the Status is changed to closed and a Quicktab has been created to filter on this for the person responsible. The Matter is reviewed and any adjustment are made to the A/R if need to produce a zero balance. ( Required to Archive the Matter).

This is also a good time to Archive related records using the TimeLine Tab, tagging and Processing Records. The Close Date is entered, the File location is noted, and the Matter is Archived. The Archive feature simply moves the Matter to another area the in software which can be found under File>Archive>Matter List. This keeps all of your data intact for conflict checks or the need to revisit the Matter or Re-open. Archived records can be Retreived and returned to the Active List. For example an Estate Plan might be Archived while it is inactive and then Retreived for and annual review.

If you run historical reports from your Billing Items list, you may not want to archive Billing Items until year end.

It is also helpful to know that if security is set to not allow a User to delete Matters they also are not allowed to Archive.